Chapter 5
“A swimming pool?” Meg said the next day. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I never kid about surfing,” Wes said.
“It’s perfect!” Jill agreed. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.”
They had arranged to meet Wes at a nearby water park first thing in the morning, before the park opened. Surfboards were not allowed in the park, of course, but Wes’s uncle was the manager.
When Wes explained the situation, his uncle agreed to let them in before the park opened.
Meg looked skeptically at the pool. Her surfboard was propped up against a nearby table. “I feel safer in the pool, but I don’t know about this,” she said.
“We only have half an hour,” Wes said. “But I think that’s enough time to get you used to the feel of the board underneath your feet.”
“You think so?” Meg asked nervously. She looked at Jill.
“You like the pool, right?” Jill said. “Now we’re just combining the pool with a surfboard.”
“And before you know it, you’ll be surfing with the best of them,” Wes said.
“Why do you care if I can surf or not?” Meg asked Wes.
Wes shrugged. “Let’s just say I’d like to see those other two girls put in their place,” he said.
* * *
After half an hour, Meg was able to stand on her surfboard. She’d even ridden a few waves, made by Jill and Wes moving their hands in the water.
Jill thought Meg had done pretty well. She was a good swimmer, at least when she wasn’t worried about being eaten by sharks. When she fell into the water — which was often — her strokes were smooth and strong. Jill noticed that Meg didn’t hesitate to get wet or put her head under water. In fact, she seemed like a natural.
Now all they had to do was get Meg used to the ocean.
Jill and Meg thanked Wes and left him at the park. They wanted to get back to camp before anyone realized they’d been gone. Or before anyone realized what they’d been doing.
Jill just didn’t want anyone to know about Meg’s extra training, especially Abby and Sara.
Jill and Meg walked from the main street onto the beach. As they got closer to camp, they could see that about two dozen kids were standing around the surf camp stand. Krista stood behind it, talking.
When they got closer, Jill realized something was wrong. Krista was talking slowly. She was not her usual bubbly self.
“What’s going on?” Jill said, nudging one of the guys in their group.
“Hurricane,” Cal whispered back. “Looks like we’ll be grounded in a few days.”
“Hurricane?” Meg said. “When?”
“It’s down the coast, in Florida,” Cal told her. “It’s supposed to be here by Friday. It’s not a big one, so we don’t have to leave the coast, but still.”
“Friday!” Jill said. “But that’s—”
“That’s right, Jill,” Krista said loudly. “That’s the day of the competition. Nice of you and Meg to show up this morning.”